News

Communication and Information Sector's news service

25-11-2004 (Almaty) Digital Migration of Audiovisual Archives in Central Asia
Some 20 experts from national audiovisual archives, main broadcasting organizations and national committees of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme in Central Asia are expected for a two-day training workshop on digital preservation of audiovisual archives in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 29 and 30 November 2004.

24-11-2004 (Paris) International Friends of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Met in Egypt
Friends of the “Bibliotheca Alexandrina” met last month in Alexandria, Egypt, for the second time since the new Library of Alexandria was officially inaugurated in October 2002. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina “Friends” Associations - more than 35 world-wide - help to promote and contribute to the success of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina through donations, publications, conferences and fund-raising.

23-11-2004 (Paris) Partnership for Building the Arab Information Society
Representatives of the 13 member states of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), intergovernmental organizations and civil society are presently meeting at the Second Regional Preparatory Conference for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Damascus, Syria looking at “new partnership for building the Arab information society”.

18-11-2004 (Geneva) Global Regulators to Focus on Licensing in Era of Convergence
International Telecommunication Union’s Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) will take place on 8–10 December 2004 in Geneva. A major objective of this year’s conference is to achieve consensus on ways to promote the development of low cost access to broadband and Internet connectivity, which is of particular importance to the developing world.

16-11-2004 (Paris) Learning Outside the Classroom in Namibia
The traditional model of education is known as a classroom with four walls and a teacher. Over the years this image has changed. In a vast country such as Namibia with a relatively low population of only 1.8 Million inhabitants the task of building schools has met many setbacks. Open as well as distance learning have proven to be viable alternatives.

10-11-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Donates New Mobile Broadcast Unit to Timbuktu’s Radio Stations
When the locust plague first hit Timbuktu in Mali, the town’s four radio stations immediately used the suitcase radio donated by UNESCO in 2001 to mobilise townspeople and villagers against the desert insects that destroyed a significant percentage of Mali’s crops in 2004.

09-11-2004 (Paris) Timbuktu Manuscripts Project Continues with Preservation Study Tours
UNESCO renews its commitment to the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project, an initiative to preserve the unique literary heritage of the Malian city of Timbuktu, by sponsoring a two-week study tour in France of renowned Malian scholars, Mohamed Gallah Dicko, from the Ahmed Baba Institute, and Moctar Sidi Yahia, from the Private Library of Alwangari.

08-11-2004 (Paris) International Debate on Internet Governance Gains Momentum
With the first meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) forthcoming and the launch of the WGIG website earlier this month, international debate on governance mechanisms of the Internet gains momentum. UNESCO will continue advocating the principle of “openness” in the debate.

05-11-2004 (Brasilia) An Inside Look at Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas
Using the web to foster social inclusion in Rio de Janeiro’s low-income urban settlements, the so-called favelas, is the idea behind the Viva Favela website, an innovative communication experience of Viva Rio, a UNESCO supported non-governmental organization.

03-11-2004 (Paris) Slave Trade Archives on Agenda of UNESCO Meeting in Cuba
Archivists from 11 countries will meet this month in Cuba to discuss new perspectives for the consolidation and extension of UNESCO’s Slave Trade Archives Project, an initiative to safeguard the documents related to slave trade and slavery within the framework UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.

29-10-2004 (New Delhi/Bangkok) Asia Pacific Information Network Focuses on Information Literacy at Beijing Meeting
Thirty participants from seventeen countries in Asia and the Pacific met last week for the second session for the Asia Pacific Information Network (APIN) at the Institute for Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) in Beijing, China, highlighting the important role of information literacy in the region.

28-10-2004 (Paris) Conference on Legal Information Opens Today in Minsk
A two-day International Scientific and Practical Conference on “Information Technologies and Law (Legal Informatization – 2004)” looking at access to legal information opens today in Minsk, the capital of the Republic of Belarus, under the auspices and with the financial support of UNESCO.

27-10-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Murder of Bangladeshi Journalist Shahid Anwar
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the murder, on October 24, of Bangladeshi journalist Shahid Anwar, assistant editor of the Daily Asian Express, and voiced concern about the increasing frequency of such killings in the country.

27-10-2004 (Monrovia) Liberian Media Law and Policy Reform Conference Ends with Ambitious Plan of Action
A national conference on Media Law and Policy Reform in Liberia adopted last Saturday an ambitious plan of action to guarantee press freedom in the country. The final conference statement called upon the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) to continue working with all involved stakeholders. UNDP and UNESCO welcomed the country’s roadmap for free press.

26-10-2004 (Beijing) Transforming the Digital Divide into Digital Opportunities for Rural Populations
ICT are powerful tools to give voice to marginalized groups in rural areas when used appropriately. This was the main finding of the discussions of the more than 70 international experts who participated in a UNESCO sponsored conference on “Transforming the digital divide into digital opportunities for rural populations” in Baoding, China from 17 to 19 October 2004.

25-10-2004 (Paris) UNESCO Condemns Murder of Belarus Journalist Veronika Cherkasova
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today condemned the assassination of Veronika Cherkasova, a journalist for the independent Belarus newspaper Solidarnost, in Minsk on October 20. Mr Matsuura also voiced concern over reports of widespread attacks on freedom of the press in the country in recent months.

25-10-2004 (Paris) Archives Training for Kyrgyzstan National Broadcast Corporation
Managers and staff of the archives and technical departments of the National Broadcast Corporation of the Kyrgyz Republic (SNBC) were earlier this month trained in modern methods and technologies of sound archiving in order to support SNBC in its move to preserve its sound archive also for the next 50 years.